Digital defence: NDPWG update November 2016

On 24 November 2016 I chaired the National Digital Practitioners’ Working Group.

Rhiannon Evans from Supporting Justice was our guest speaker on behalf of Citizen’s Advice. Rhiannon kindly volunteered to attend to support their campaign to improve the experience of defence and prosecution witnesses in the Criminal Justice System.

For those defence practitioners who were unable to attend I’ve included a video below of Rhiannon’s talk on the important support services available to witnesses and defence practitioners:

Witness Service

The Witness Service provides independent support and information to allow both defence and prosecution witnesses to give their best evidence. Here’s how the service plays an important role in the Criminal Justice System:

a preparation service which includes contacting witnesses in advance of trial to talk them through the process of giving evidence

the opportunity to visit an empty courtroom before the trial day and familiarise themselves with what it will be like when they give evidence

support and information while they’re at court for the trial and help with claiming expenses

an outreach service for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses who may need a higher level of preparation and support. This includes preparation sessions at the witness’s home or a community location as appropriate

All of this is provided free of charge in every criminal court in England and Wales.

Benefits of the Witness Service

Some of the main benefits of the service that Rhiannon was keen to highlight included:

180,000 witnesses supported to give their best evidence last year

2,300 volunteers give up their time every week to support witnesses

93% of witnesses using the service are satisfied or very satisfied

80% of witnesses we support felt less worried and better able to give evidence

I felt it was really important to support the campaign to raise awareness of the Witness Service. Defence witnesses are often a forgotten part of the Criminal Justice System and I was keen to dispel the myth the service is only available for prosecution witnesses.

The service they offer to witnesses is invaluable. I had a case involving an 11 year old child who had witnessed an assault, the volunteers at the court did their utmost to ensure he felt at ease in the court building and the defence witness was able to give their best evidence. This ultimately resulted in the defendant being acquitted of the charges.

Rhiannon Evans said:

It's great to have an opportunity to speak at the working group to raise awareness of the support available for all defence witnesses. Reaching to all parts of the defence community is a challenge and this group is a vital way to communicate with all defence practitioners.

If you have any questions on my blog post or would like to present at a future working group please get in touch with me by email or using the comment facility at the bottom of this page.